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Tag Archives: Thrash Metal

You have to be grateful to Sonick Plague and Pavement Music for bringing us not only a blast from the band’s past but giving it a fresh breath and energy, though it is easy to suspect a straight release of their 1988 debut album would have been a treat too for those us missing it first time around. The West Virginian thrashers though have re-recorded and re-energized that rampage, originally titled What’s the Purpose, and uncaged it as a self-titled offering and attention filler whilst the band works on new material. It is old school thrash dosed up with punk and classic metal ferocity, and yes the band’s sound has been emulated, reworked, and twisted many times over the years since Sonick Plague unleashed their album, but still the songs just stir up ears and appetite.

Formed in 1984, the band’s first ‘memorable’ line-up of Ken Cuccaro (drums) and Tim Meehan (guitars), alongside Tony Teodoro (guitars) and Sean Donnelly (bass, vocals) came a few years later, the four behind the band’s 1988 debut album. Though it swiftly gained hordes of new fans and attention, not long after it’s unveiling, Meehan left the band to be subsequently replaced by guitarist Chuck Crilly. From there Sonick Plague undertook their own self-supported tour and shared stages with the likes of Death Angel, Voivod, Gwar, Pantera, Ludichrist, Crumbsuckers and many more. The intensity of that tour and surrounding shows saw the band’s stability shaken, and after a few unsuccessful line-up changes the band parted. It was apparently the sad passing of Teodoro in 2012 that sparked Cuccaro, Donnelly, and Crilly to begin talking musical things again, and with the addition of Matt Dupre, Sonick Plague reformed and set about re-recording their first offering.

Recorded at the legendary Carriage House Studios, the album quickly gets down to business with Street Wars. An alluring melodic entrance gives no indication of the sonic rioting to come but it does wake up ears and imagination nicely. Increasing its muscle and drama with every passing chord, riff, and spiky beat, the track eventually hits full steam, the vocals of Donnelly ripe with attitude and aggression. We are as many, not able to bring a comparison to the first version of the album but it is hard to imagine his delivery being any more potent first time around. Musically, with age and maturity involved, you can assume the release also has a richer and thicker body, and certainly the opener rumbles and grumbles as if old school thrash was a fresh proposition.

The great starts continues with My Gun, the throaty bass of Donnelly a great coaxing alongside the virulence of driving riffs and concussive swings cast by Dupre, Crilly, and Cuccaro respectively. Settling with an attack somewhere between a lively prowl and an all-out charge, the track bites and snarls whilst a solo lights the air. Of course we have heard this all before in many ways, but from those coming after and being inspired by Sonick Plague and the bands around them in the eighties, and a great many of them definitely labour to make the same highly satisfying assaults as the reworked but undiluted proposals offer on this release.

Both AA and I Don’t Want to Relax churn up air and the senses, the first with a rabid nagging of riffs and crisp beats led by the grouchy tones of Donnelly, and its successor through its military and Celtic teased imagination. The second of the two is pure anthem, enslaving from its opening contagious moments to and across a ravenous landscape of psychotic grooves and quarrelsome riffing speared by rhythms as hellacious as they are viciously precise. The track is thrash bred but simply rock ‘n’ roll in its most irresistible form, and easily our favourite, and probably the best track on the album, despite many challengers. Its punkish character also adds to the anarchic glory before making way for the crushing yet infectiously tempting turbulence of View of Death and straight after the middle finger growl of One Swift Kick. Each keeps body and appetite greedy, the first with its predatory and unrelenting gnawing at the senses and the second courtesy of a deliciously bestial bass sound and another scourge of heavy niggling riffs and contagion spilling grooves; the mesmeric melodic oasis deep into its tempest is pretty juicy too. The track stands aside I Don’t Want to Relax as the pinnacles of the album, each the perfect invitation to newcomers to Sonick Plague past and present.

The pair of Misc Bullshit, with its classic metal hued enterprise within another savaging embrace, and finally NRG brings the album to a great close. The last track simply brawls with the listener vocally and musically, leaving no attitude coated stone unturned in its tenacious and uncompromising carnage, and both songs again showing plenty of accomplished and inventive touches not always fuelled by hostility.

As mentioned we cannot say how much the songs have changed during their re-recording etc. but there is no denying the unfussy but skilled craft and technical ability set loose. This is certainly an album in many ways you already know thanks to those who have followed over the years employing the sounds Sonick Plague and their like inspired originally. It is going to be interesting how the band’s new songs shape up, but easy to suspect they will also offer a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

It would probably not be too unfair to say that Lobotomized is not overloaded with rich originality, though it has plenty of flavoursome exploits which stand out, but when it rocks like a barbarian smelling blood, which is most of the time, the debut album from Greek thrashers Biotoxic Warfare is one fiercely enjoyable and invigorating incitement. Wearing many of their inspirations on their sleeve, Slayer and Kreator more obvious ones, Biotoxic Warfare create the kind of hostility their name hints at but also weave in some juicy sonic imagination and temptation to ensure that every song within their first album offers unpredictability as well as spicy familiarity. The result is a compelling and thoroughly pleasing rampage to heartily recommend.

Hailing from Heraklion in Crete, Biotoxic Warfare began in 2012, drawing on the European and American thrash metal scene as well as the roots of the genre to create and hone their own ideation and sound. Making a potent impression on the Crete and Athens live scene soon after, the band released the Baptized In Blood And Greed EP in the April of 2013, its fury earning good reviews around the metal media. Live the band equally flourished, earning a potent reputation as they proceeded to support bands such as Suicidal Angels and Enforcer. 2014 saw the current line-up of vocalist Mike Kavalos, lead guitarist George Dimitrakakis, rhythm guitarist Stelios Sfendilakis, bassist Panagiotis Polioudakis, and drummer Orestis Drapaniotis in place and the recording of the band’s Vaggelis Theodorakis (Revolted Masses) mixed and mastered debut album.

Lobotomized quickly works on ears and imagination with its opening instrumental Mors Indecepta. The piece is a swift scene setter, its prowling almost lumbering body dragging portentous hues around as rhythms crawl slowly and intimidatingly through ears. At the same time guitars spin an evocative web of sonic expression until it all comes to a point where it all erupts into a predatory incitement of ears and imagination. The track does not make an instant dramatic persuasion, even as it increases its weight and intensity minute by minute, but over listens becomes a rich and potent introduction. Its transition into Proclaim The Gospel Of Lies is not as fluid as one would wish but quickly forgotten as the second track from a demonic declaration, sends forth riffs and rhythms clad with brutal rabidity, though they quickly become entangled with highly alluring grooves. The track is soon really storming the barricades, its riffs almost punk like and its slithers of grooves pure tangy acidity around the caustic growling of Kavalos. There is familiarity to its hooks and driving riffery yet not of sources or styles expected which adds to the intrigue and fun, as does the slip into dark cavernous, almost doomy terrain.

The song is sheer anthemic magnetism but equipped with expectations throwing exploits and imagination that makes song and band something fresh, a characteristic exploited again in Baptized In Blood And Greed. Again a bestial prowl is the springboard to furious and anthemic tenacity from all areas of the band, the bass a primal invitation as thick and potent as the fiery endeavour of the guitars. Another inescapably rousing conflict, the song makes way for the darker saunter of Dsyphoric Reality. Well its entrance is a deliberate stroll; the rest of its torrential offering is soon after an unbridled and carnivorous trespass of ears and pleasure. As in most songs, an ever twisting gait breeds a compelling and contagious swagger around which the craft of both guitarists shine with their individual creative flaming, the bass on its own agenda to prey on the passions with a rabid snarl and addictive rancor.

Drapaniotis is a perpetual magnet and provocateur with his inventive and constantly evolving swings, as proven once again in the album’s title track, though he has to hold back whilst the song makes a mouth-watering and melodically charming entrance. The itch to uncage energy and antagonism is soon inescapable and drummer, band, and song are soon descending on ears and appetite with a tempest of rabid rhythms and ravenous riffs guided by the ever raw and enjoyable hostility of Kavalos, potently backed vocally by Dimitrakakis. It is the rolling contagion and spicy slithers of sonic invention which steal the show though with the virulence of the song pure slavery as too, as indeed the ingenuity of the guitars in setting off kilter almost post-punk like sparks to the outstanding encounter.

The gripping savagery of Lust For Hate is next, bringing more of the similarity between the surface actions of some songs within Lobotomized but quickly spearing and defusing it with its own imaginative and searing tapestry of sonic colour. Not quite matching previous songs, it leaves ears and satisfaction enjoyably full before Parasitic Life and finally As We Rot (Promises of Heaven) bring the album to a thunderous close. The first of the pair is waspish in its grooving, a tasty and welcome irritant leading into the warfare of the song and returning with regular invention and success whilst the track breeds even broader rhythmic and infectious shoulders for the guitars to blaze from. It is a scintillating proposal matched by its successor, the album closer a tsunami of intensity and barbarism within a whirlpool of unforgiving energy and twisting enterprise, and quite irresistible.

As suggested there is plenty to find yourself familiar with in Lobotomized but it does not stop the album throwing up one of the most invigorating and enjoyable metal releases this year. Biotoxic Warfare is thrash metal embracing the old and new whilst infusing its own spice of character and imagination. This might not rank as your best metal album of 2015 but it just could be your favourite thrash encounter.

Not only reinforcing an already potent reputation, Chasing The Devil from Canadian metallers Titans Eve pushes their presence and sound powerfully forward whilst sharing the open declaration of this is who we are, this is what we have for you, enjoy! Fusing a broad flavouring of metal with a thrash bred heart, sure enough it is a hard to resist offer but also a proposition which ignites the imagination and emotions to giving modern metal a very good name.

Hailing from Vancouver, Titan’s Eve emerged in 2008 having been formed by lead vocalist/guitarist Brian Gamblin and his guitarist/vocalist brother Kyle; drummer Casey Ory joining them straight away and bassist Jesse Hord subsequently completing the line-up. Taking their time honing their sound and lighting up a local fan base, the quartet really began waking up the Canadian metal scene around 2009/2010 with a tour across Western Canada followed by debut album The Divine Equal. Extremely well-received and acclaimed, the release also led the band to recognition further afield and a two month tour across North America in 2011. Their strong emergence continued the following year, starting with supporting Korn and the creation and release of second album Life Apocalypse, which in turn was followed by playing with Anvil, touring with Kill Devil Hill, and supporting Arch Enemy on their European Khaos tour. The album followed its predecessor in luring strong praise and attention upon Titans Eve, something Chasing The Devil now will definitely replicate and most likely take to new levels. Recorded with producer and engineer Eric Mosher, and mastered by Jeff Waters of Annihilator, Chasing The Devil takes the expected aggressive and uncompromising sound of the band and ignites it with arguably their most melodic and creative spicing yet…the result one gripping and thoroughly enjoyable tempest.

Opener We Defy drives in from a distance first, healthily brewing riffs closing in before upon arrival triggering punchy rhythms and a highly flavoursome guitar enterprise. Once united it all settles into a muscular stride driven by crisply landed beats and a dark hearted bassline, the guitars spinning a web of thrash riffery bound in melodic and groove metal imagination. It is a pungent blend with the final potent ingredient being the snarling delivery of Brian’s vocals, his tones more sandy than gravelly but a great texture and attack for this and all songs. The album starter continues to grow and expand in invention and sound as its proceeds, never relinquishing its core anthemic contagion and blatant aggressiveness but filling ears with potent persuasion.

The immense start is continued by War Path. The second track is similar in style initially but soon unloading uncompromising beats and a surge of hungry torrential riffs, though they both pale against the excellent predatory bassline which really begins stalking ears after an early blaze of band vocals. There are essences of bands like Exodus and Testament to the song, as in many, but equally a weave of nu, groove, and heavy metal which only helps turn the encounter into one of the pinnacles of the album. The song is a benchmark for the release emulated with regularity starting with the following No Kingdom. A melodic caress draws in ears and appetite first before things get intensive and antagonistic, the drums unleashing a barrage of thunderous bait as the guitars drive ferociously and seduce melodically through another persistently shifting design. It is a fascinating proposition though it never goes far enough in its hostile voracity or sonic ingenuity for personal tastes, something which could be said of the whole album. It is as if the band is trying too hard to balance the opposites instead of giving them their reins, but nevertheless the song just hits the sweet spot as its successor.

Another Day is the most bestial song on the album yet, vocals and its sonic nature a barbarous confronting of the senses in turn coloured by the raw and bracing alignment of caustic riffing and imposing rhythms. A fiery solo sows seeds for further melodic endeavour as well as the tenacious, almost punk metal like surge of incitement which flares up. It is a song ensuring ears and appetite only get greedier for sound and album, a hunger equally inspired by the title track and in turn The Grind. The song Chasing The Devil brews a rich old school character from its tantalising and evocative melodic opening, the track weaving a tapestry of classic and heavy metal strands into a canvas of darker bred and fuelled flavouring. Thoughts of Judas Priest meets Machine Head are prompted as the track continues to ignite ears and imagination, through its more modern enterprise hints of Mudvayne too. They are all alluring hues colluding for another peak of the release instantly equalled by the second of the pair which from the initial carnivorous tone of bass, is simply a primal tempting sparking lustful attention. With its prowling voracious persuasion of sound, the song easily lives up to its name, its riffs a ravenous persistence on the senses and the swings of Ory an unrelenting intimidation. There is no lack of addictive grooves and sonic colour either, each lining the incitement with irresistible hooks as the encounter steals the whole show.

The album is completed by firstly the bewitching instrumental Stranded, where harsh cold and melancholic emotions are lit and conjured by a seduction of acoustic expression, melodic reflection, and stringed beauty. Dark shadows and keys crafted elegance only add to the mesmeric narrative before The Endless Light steps forward to bring the album to a fine close. The track is a maelstrom of sounds and skilled resourcefulness as raw and magnetic metal collude in a thrash powered and diversely cultured storm of dark hearted and captivating fury.

Chasing The Devil is a treat of a proposal, further evidence of the exciting craft and might of Titans Eve with only the suggestion that it was not as bold as it could or at times suggested it might have been a passing thought. It certainly provides a seriously enjoyable adventure for metal in 2015 and that in our book is a big success all should take a punt on.

Preludes & Nocturnes is an album which manages to impress, excite, and disappoint in one go, though admittedly the latter is a mere fraction of the enjoyment had from the Carnal Agony release. There are just times though where it feels like it missed the opportunity to make an even greater impact on ears and subsequently the metal scene, evaded the chance to pungently push this highly accomplished band towards the brighter spotlights which admittedly it still might awaken.

Hailing from Umeå in Sweden, Carnal Agony began in 2011 and swiftly began luring attention for their diversely flavoured style of metal around lyrical themes inspired by the classic literature from the likes of HP Lovecraft, John Milton, and Edgar Allan Poe. Musically the band, on the evidence of their latest album, weaves in everything from heavy and classic to power and melodic metal to a thrash seeded sound, revealing inspirations from artists such as Iron Maiden, earlier Metallica, In Flames, Mercyful Fate, and Testament along the way. Early demos sparked interest whilst the band’s live presence has brought them attention and acclaim, especially through a tour with Six Feet Under last year. Carnal Agony has been called the latest sensation in the Scandinavian metal scene, a big claim not majorly contradicted by their debut album.

Produced by Ronny Milianowicz (ex-Sinergy, Dionysus, and Saint Deamon) and featuring former Helloween/Masterplan drummer Uli Kusch (also Gamma Ray, Holy Moses), the album gets off to a rousing start through War Prayer. Straight away heavy duty riffs and matching rhythms stand toe to toe with ears, setting down a sturdy thrash bred stride. Unpredictability shows itself to be a ripe essence within Preludes & Nocturnes and within just a few moments the first song has expectations wrong footed by slipping into a calmer melodic passage. This enticing invention is quickly surrounded by brewing essences of epic metal and stronger drama clad textures which in turn lead into another muscular onslaught. The gruff raw vocals of David Johagen join the mix now, his rugged, raw tones admittedly taking a little time to acclimatise to against the flowing tide of sound but an increasingly strong ingredient through subsequent listens of the release. Folkish elements tease alongside classic and power metal elements, already the band’s sound defying any precise tagging. The song continues to stampede and potently relax across its engaging length, a tasty appetite raising start to the encounter provided.

The opening vocal lure of next up The Frozen Throne is excellent, mass clean vocals like a band of brothers crooning air and ears and an element not used enough as the voices are spot on. A guttural roar from Johagen brings the air born invitation down to earth, his warlike call the spark for a web of sonic enterprise from guitarists Mathias Wallin and Pär-Olof Persson, buffeted by the thumping skills of Kusch. Hooks and melodies colour the chest thumping proposition too as again a clutch of different flavours align impressively in the track which by its end you will surely be raising a fist and vocal chords with.

Rebel’s Lament is a less forceful proposition next, though still a muscular persuasion. Inventive endeavour from the guitars bound the rally of beats and riffs whilst the dark tones of bass from Roger Andersson add rich shadows which nicely temper the skilled craft flaming from the fingers of Wallin and Persson, especially in a bewitching solo. The track though does not match up to its predecessors but still has ears engrossed and satisfaction bubbling as does the next up Rebellion. A power ballad of sorts, Johagen reveals more of his slightly cleaner and stronger qualities, and if I am being honest it is when he lets those free that he and songs find a new quality. To be fair, it is personal taste more than anything but nudged by the fact that when he does ‘sing’ he often ignites already gripping songs further. The track grows in weight, intensity, and anthemic energy so that by its close you feel like you are astride a stallion going into battle.

As good as those two songs are Carnal Agony overshadows immediately after. It is a beast of a song, a stalking intimidation of stabbing riffs and scarring beats from its first breath and a carnivorous charge of sound and energy from there on. But that is only part of the confrontation, the guitars sparking within the core rampage with slithers and spears of sonic imagination and melodic toxicity, it all ridden by the commanding ‘follow me into battle’ tones of Johagen. The track is outstanding but too damn short at barely over two minutes.

Next up is the heavy/classic metal spiced Night of the Werewolf, a track with gothic overtones. This is one of those moments where personally an opportunity was lost, the earlier mentioned clean vocals feeling like they would have been a better fit whilst musically apart from a fiercely enticing bassline, the band feels like they kept a check on the imagination which had already lit up earlier songs.

Fire Walk with Me has ears and emotions feeling feisty again next, its fluid travel through a landscape of stormy energy and reflective melodies fascinating whilst once more guitars and bass reveals striking exploits bursting with magnetism and individual skill. Backed by voice and drum swipes, the track leaves a breathless listener in its wake, ready for Sleep Waker to please with its spicy heavy metal enterprise and Crystal Lake to turn into a head nodding enthusiast with its contagious and sinister imagination. The first of the two is another which, like the album, is a blend of full captivation and less successful elements or choices, but does get stronger and more enthralling with every listen. Its successor is a glorious stomp of horror bred devilry, everything from hooks to grooves, riffs to rhythms, an emotion inflaming festival of aggression and temptation.

The opening grisly bassline of Secrets Within the Shrine next sets the tone and scene of the triumph to come. Its thick bait is swiftly joined and enhanced by prowling riffs and venom swing grooves whilst beats are more predatory than vicious at this point. There is no escaping a Metallica whiff to the song but equally a scent of Misfits and the grouchy air of Mastodon helps bring alluring flavour of the song, whilst the constantly evolving ingenuity of the guitars takes it all to another level.

The track is excellent leaving Together We’re Lost the task with closing up the album, which it does in potent style. Familiar yet fresh, the track is an infectious and highly enjoyable end and another song which finds Johagen running the range of his delivery and yes he needs to ‘sing’ more because that is where he excels.

Definitely Preludes & Nocturnes is a release to take time with because it just grows with every recruitment of its bold and flavoursome adventure. Bottom-line is that it is a strong and enjoyable introduction to Carnal Agony who carry the promise of even greater exploits ahead.

If looking for some old school thrash inspired by the genre’s founders then the debut album from Portuguese metallers Atomik Destruktor is the perfect offering to get your teeth in to. Influenced by the likes of Destruction, Sodom, Kreator, Metallica, Slayer, Exodus…well you get the picture, the Braga quintet is straight down the line thrash metal but with an attitude and creativity which makes their release much more than expectations filling. Explosive and suitably aggressive, it is full-on enjoyment with a great anthemic presence, a mix which always goes down a treat.

Atomik Destruktor began in 2007, formed by three high school friends in vocalist Turtle, guitarist Gibson, and drummer Jota, with second guitarist Pedraça straight away brought into the band too. The departure of Turtle saw bassist Marco joining up alongside vocalist Paulo Thrasher, but it was only a few months later that the latter left and the returning Turtle completed the now in place line-up. 2008 saw the band ventured into the live scene and the following year the release of the Destroy, Disagree & Disrespect demo. In 2011 the band entered Grave Studios to record their first album. With live shows also going on, its recording took a long time to complete but finally it gets it’s unveiling via Helldprod Records, providing a fierce, volatile, and thoroughly enjoyable outing for thrash fans.

The album opens with Atomic Destruction, its initial touch samples within a distant but swiftly brewing web of guitar enterprise. They swiftly confront ears in full volume and tenacity though as riffs become a fiery and inviting incitement matched by jabbing beats and a meaty bassline. Top gear is soon locked in, the band charging with spicy grooves and rabid riffs across the senses and into a quickly greedy appetite. Turtles’ vocals are antagonistic and raw, the perfect fit for the erosive energy and driving riffery fuelling the highly agreeable encounter. Backing vocal calls and sharp hooks certainly hold no surprises, as the rest of the track in many ways, yet it matters little in the contagious and accomplished persuasion of the excellent song.

A great start is matched by the following Attack of the Virus where again riffs and rhythms collude with ripe vocal bait to create a virulent slab of thrash addictiveness. Those earlier mentions influences are heard across song and of course album, extra colour to the infectious exploits of the band. A hostile swagger and enticing grooves unite to create a bruising march on the senses whilst a spicy sonic guitar solo towards the song’s end, is a moment revealing more of the skill and imagination of the band.

Comatose next is anything but, an explosive and hungry surge of nagging riffs and vicious rhythms stoked further by the angry tones of Turtle, whilst the album’s title track roams the senses with niggling infectiousness and bracing ferocity. Both also expel moments of inventive melodic acidity and uncompromising sonic intrusiveness which only captivates as it stirs up the already turbulent landscapes of the songs. The same again applies to the excellent Phantom City, its bruising and intensive assault, though less violent than the previous two, comes with tasty veins of imaginative grooving and searing individual endeavour courtesy of the guitars.

No song is anything less than vehement rhythmically, though that element is never short of imagination, and in basslines a constant offer of primal temptation, as found in the blistering confrontation almost punk like of Merciless Squad and after, the barbarous War Machine. Both as you would expect are loaded with anthemic persuasion and raw power, though the latter feels like a barrage of the most brutal armoury at the band’s creative disposal.

The same kind of extreme viciousness soaks final track DxDxD too, though it infuses its attack with hardcore attitude and punk energy for quite simply a mouth-watering riot of rock ‘n’ roll. It provides a thrilling end to a great encounter. Originality is at a premium but for unbridled fun and exhaustingly accomplished thrash metal Unnatural Disorder is a triumph all should take a romp with.

There is nothing quite like the voracious roar of thrash metal, especially when it is as ferociously raw and uncompromising as upon the new EP from US metallers Deathblow. Consisting of five tracks bred from the heart and soul of the genre, The Other Side of Darkness is a tirade in the ear and the fuse to the primal instincts of thrash metal and its following hordes.

The band’s second release follows their well-received debut album Prognosis Negative of 2014, and explodes with the same unbridled antagonism and intensity which marked out its predecessor. In many ways you really do know what you are going to get with the Salt Lake City trio’s sound, certainly in regard to its character and sonic intent as well as its overriding breeding but it cannot stop it, and indeed the new release from Deathblow with its additional inventive adventure, leaving nothing but rich satisfaction in its hellacious wake.

Recorded with and mixed and mastered by Andy Peterson, the self-released incitement opens up with Beyond Obsession, a song immediately prowling, no stalking the senses with a deliciously heavy and intimidating bassline joined straight away by more raucously animated riffs. The drums too soon lend their muscle to the threat, everything coming together in one breath of a pause before unleashing a hellacious united storm of metallic aggravation. Driven by just as hostile vocals, the track rumbles and charges with an ever shifting gait, revelling in its violent prowess and leaving the senses battered and blissfully bruised.

The excellent start continues with Means To An End, where grooves and riffs seem to be even more inhospitable and contagious. After a relatively kind start it becomes a full on barrage of sonic animosity and rhythmic brutality yet still slips in varying turns of energy and an infectious enterprise which grips the imagination as skilled and melodic exploits escape from the guitars. Old school thrash meets modern ingenuity the track is a glorious rampage and rich evidence that there is much more to the band than aural viciousness.

The EP’s title track is next, bringing what can only be called a punk attitude to vocals and the fury lined bones of the song. Spiky in nature and creatively fluid in its entwining of melodic temptation and rabid virulence, The Other Side Of Darkness as the EP provokes body and emotions with consummate ease, enlisting both in its exhausting tempest.

The release is completed by firstly the simply furious and thrilling Headless Throne before the corrosively anthemic Death Wish brings everything to a riotous end. The first of the two is a sonic haranguing of the senses, a fearsome and exhilarating turbulence of rampant riffs and savage rhythms bound in a melodically sculpted lashing whilst its successor is as much punk ‘n’ roll as it is extreme metal vehemence, and simply irresistible.

The Other Side Of Darkness is thrash at its rawest best, not trying to reinvent the genre but taking long bred essences and ideation into fresh destructive climates. It works a treat and could/should be the spark to making Deathblow an eagerly spoken and recognisable name in the widest thrash circles.

Plenty about the Reign Of Fury sound hits the sweet spot of familiarity yet everything about the band’s music is rigorously fresh and inventively captivating. Theirs is a dramatic roar which draws on the finest essences of thrash and heavy metal from across the decades, involving them all in new tenaciously melodic adventures. It is also a honing of flavours woven into a collection of songs making up a release easily providing the year with one of its essential listens. The fiery and thrilling Death Be Thy Shepherd is a devilish rampage of old school and modern invention, a proposition from the British metallers unafraid to simply offer rock ‘n’ roll in its most potent and insatiably contagious form.

You could say that there is little ground-breaking about the West Midlands hailing quintet’s sound and album but equally you can only admit that nothing about them feeds expectations or leaves the imagination looking for new inspirations. It should not be a major surprise such the impact and quality of Death Be Thy Shepherd. Its acclaimed predecessor World Detonation in 2012, sparked eager attention towards the band worldwide, and it is fair to say that since forming in 2006, Reign Of Fury has increasingly gripped ears and appetites with a sound seeded on eighties thrash and metal inspirations, flavours which fuel the band’s personal passions. Highly successful performances at the likes of Bloodstock around the release of their first full-length, and their own shows and a 40 date tour in 2013 only helped accelerate their emergence into broader awareness and stature. That year also saw the band organise and host every show of the Headbangers Balls UK tour, and again the following year when the band played with 100 bands, Onslaught, Lawnmower Deth, Xentrix, and Hatebreed, over 22 dates. Both provided one of the most potent events of their year in the metal scene, raising awareness for testicular cancer and funds for Teenage Cancer Trust in tandem with great show. Now the band has uncaged Death Be Thy Shepherd and instantly thrust themselves to the frontline of world metal with its quite breath-taking avalanche of instinctive and passionate rock ‘n’ roll.

The opening chord and lure of first track Faustian Mastery instantly has ears intrigued; appetite soon following as the guitars of Ed Westlake and Jon Priestley conjure a web of raw but inviting riffs alongside a melodic invitation. The song embraces the listener with temptress like wiles, coaxing and luring them into a waiting tempest of ravenous rhythms from drummer Magic Dave and bassist Paul Bielby aligned to fierce flames and causticity cast by the guitars. Straight away the song brings the climate of eighties/nineties thrash/metal into its compelling landscape, flirtations of Metallica and Megadeth colouring the intensive stride and swagger of the track. Driven by the ever alluring tones of vocalist Bison Steed, backed eagerly by the band’s shouts, the track stomps like an old friend with new face and character in tow.

Over nine minutes long but feeling like a mere handful due to its fascinating invention, individual craft, and volcanic energy, the opener is soon matched in strength and virulence by the following Harbinger of Decay. If the first was a swift persuasion, its successor has ears and passions aflame almost within a brief swing of its rhythms and a lone blaze of sonic enticement. Its slow crawl of an entrance is the brief prelude to a thunderous charge of addiction forging riffs and grooves matched by just as gripping vocals. Like John Bush era Anthrax colluding with Trucker Diablo whilst Mastodon add their infection, the track is a glorious onslaught of hungry and inventive metal binding ears in spicy solos, rabid riffs, and psyche seducing grooves. Rhythmically and vocally too, it is an instinctive persuasion, almost primal in its temptation and straight after emulated by the just as immense Hypnotise The Masses. Riffs are bestial and sonic enterprise sultrily warm, their extremes combining across a frame work of predacious rhythms which captivate and compel the listener to join the anthem.

Through the merger of melodic seducing and corrosively rampant riffing that is Gates of Sanity and the Hetfield and co like power balladry of All is Lost, band and album only grip thoughts and appetite tighter. Though neither track can quite match the impact and creative plateaus of the first trio of songs, each leaves satisfaction full and attention enthralled whilst The Love of a Dying God is an unstoppable hunt of and march upon the senses. Volatile in texture and imagination, the song is a hellacious storm as ridiculously contagious as it is grievously imposing. It is fair to say that Reign Of Fury is not going to be the most brutal and violent proposition you will come across this year but as proven by the song, there are times where they go for the jugular with all creative guns blazing and on an attitude fuelled by hostility.

The outstanding offering seems to be the spark to the band finding even greater animosity, certainly in its rhythmic confrontation and aggressive riffery. The next up Sorrow Made Flesh is barbarous in that department but salaciously anthemic in vocal and sonic invention. Once more the backing shouts of the band add extra bait to the bellow of the song’s call, whilst musically its grouchy, often senses stalking animosity, combines superbly with the melodic and invitational enterprise offered.

The album closes with its title track, a ten minute leap into a tapestry of bewitching guitar skills, rhythmic agitation, and vocal captivation, and that only covers half of the song’s epic landscape of imaginative, skill sculpted endeavour. Arguably the most adventurous song on the release, and certainly its most varied, the track is spellbinding and raucously riotous in equal and entwining measure.

Death Be Thy Shepherd is simply intoxicating, thrash and heavy metal in its original pungent form, not worried about shaping new templates but twisting existing ingredients into gripping and ferociously new incitements. This in turn makes the band’s familiarity in sound also a brand new protagonist for ears and pleasure. Simply put, Reign Of Fury is pure rock ‘n’ roll and quite irresistible.

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The RingMaster

Music writer/reviewer and band/release promo/bio writer.
Artists previously worked with include: In Vain, The Capsules, Solar Halos, Crashgate, Fahran, Centre Excuse, Evanstar, and many more as well as FRUK and Pluggin' Baby.
For reviews of your releases or specific written work get in contact @ ringmasterreview@live.co.uk
Presenter of The Bone Orchard promoting the best underground bands and sounds from metal to rock, punk to noise and more and the RingMaster Radio Show presenting the cream of new indepedent releases across all genres both on Reputation Radio at http://www.reputationradio.
Dark poet at The Carnivale of Dark Words and Shadows http://carnivaleofdarkwordsandshadows.webs.com